Assault weapons ban at Harrisburg expo irks enthusiasts

Thursday

Jan 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM

HARRISBURG — Some gun enthusiasts are threatening to boycott what's billed as the state's largest outdoor-sports show to protest a ban on the display and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

PETER JACKSON

HARRISBURG — Some gun enthusiasts are threatening to boycott what's billed as the state's largest outdoor-sports show to protest a ban on the display and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Event organizer Reed Exhibitions imposed the ban on the military-style semi-automatic weapons at the Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show in Harrisburg out of concern they might distract from other aspects of the show in light of last month's deadly Connecticut elementary school shooting and the ongoing gun control debate in Washington, a spokesman told The Philadelphia Inquirer for a story published Wednesday.

"We thought, 'Let's take a break for a year,'" said Ed Several, a senior vice president for the British company's North American operations. "There's so much more to the show."

A statement posted on the show's website cited a desire to exclude "certain products that in the current climate may attract negative attention that would distract from the strong focus on hunting and fishing at this family-oriented event."

But word of the action drew numerous calls for a boycott from gun enthusiasts on the show's Facebook page and accusations Reed wasn't standing up for their Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The nine-day show is scheduled to open Feb. 2 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex on the outskirts of the state capital.

Shira Goodman, director of the gun safety group CeaseFirePA, called the show's assault weapons ban "a heartening development" and said it sends a message that gun dealers and exhibitors "want to be part of the conversation" about gun safety.

As the dispute over the show's ban played out Wednesday, President Barack Obama urged a divided Congress to enact a national ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and to mandate universal background checks for gun buyers.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter hailed the administration proposal as "a comprehensive set of concrete proposals that will help us reduce the gun violence that occurs every day in our cities and to prevent mass shootings like the one that occurred just over one month ago in Newtown, Connecticut."

In the Dec. 14 shooting, a gunman who had killed his mother at their home went to Sandy Hook Elementary school and fatally shot 20 first-graders and six school administrators before killing himself.

A spokesman for Staudt's Gun Shop, one of the more than 1,200 exhibitors at next month's show, said it has no semi-automatic weapons to display anyway because it's sold out.